The IMF's latest regional economic outlook for Sub-SaharanAfrica predicts a second difficult year as the region is hit bymultiple shocks. In this podcast, co-author Céline Allard, says thesteep decline in commodity prices and tighter financing conditionshave put many large economies under severe strain.

Contributors: Céline Allard, Head of the Regional StudiesDivision in the IMF’s African Department

In this Podcast, we speak with Raghu Rajan, India’s central bank
governor about the Global Financial Safety Net. Rajan is charged
with securing monetary stability in one of the world’s largest
Emerging Market economies, at a time when others are stumbling in
the face of difficult global economic trends. Rajan participated in
a seminar entitled
Fortifying the Global Financial Safety Net, during the
IMF-World Bank Spring meetings.

The new World Economic Outlook anticipates a slight acceleration in growth this year, from 3.1 to 3.2 percent, followed by 3.5 percent growth in 2017. But IMF Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld says projections continue to be progressively less optimistic over time.

While many economists would argue public investment projects in highly efficient countries have a greater impact on growth, recent research by some IMF economists shows that’s not necessarily the case. In this podcast we speak with the IMF’s Andy Berg, who suggests the impact on growth from public investment spending is similar in both high and low-efficiency countries.

Contributors:

Andy Berg, a Deputy Director in the IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development